Who They Were: Inside the World Trade Center DNA Story: The Unprecendented Effort to Identify the Missing.

WHO THEY WERE: Inside the World Trade Center DNA Story: The Unprecedented Effort to Identify the Missing ROBERT C. SHALER

The tragic stories to come out of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on New York City are innumerable. Bringing closure to people who lost loved ones began with the search for survivors among the rubble of the World Trade Center towers and ended with the grim and seemingly insurmountable task of identifying remains. Shaler was at the time the director of forensic biology in New York's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. In riveting detail, he describes the around-the-clock work that he and his team of scientists and volunteers put into separating, cataloging, and testing 20,000 body parts retrieved at the towers. Shaler tells of difficulty in collecting the samples, keeping them from decomposing, and then DNA typing the material. All the while, the forensic scientists were dealing with and consoling grieving families. Despite the team's tireless efforts, as of April, only 1,592 of the presumed 2,749 dead had been identified. This is a poignant look at the intersection of science and human tragedy. Free Press, 2005, 384 p., hardcover, $25.00.